At present, Tokyo Review is exploring new opportunities for funding the site’s activities – consequently, we are unable to accept unsolicited pitches for articles at this time. We hope to be able to reopen to article submissions in the near future, and include our guidelines for contributors below for reference.
(Updated June 2022)
Are you interested in writing something for Tokyo Review? We welcome submissions and pitches, but have a few guidelines you should be aware of first – especially if you don’t have background or experience in writing op-ed pieces.
Q: What are you looking for?
Analytical pieces with contemporary relevance about Japanese economy, politics and society.
Q: Who is your audience?
Tokyo Review is primarily read by people with an interest in and a knowledge of Japan – mostly professionals with some involvement with the country through business, academia or policy-related work – but we also have a large audience of people who are casually interested in Japan and want to expand their knowledge of the country.
Q: Who can write for Tokyo Review?
We welcome submissions from a wide range of people, and are especially interested in receiving submissions from young scholars and early career academics. If you e-mail us with a submission, please also let us know in a few words in your e-mail why you are the right person to write about your topic.
Q: Do you pay for articles?
Yes – Tokyo Review offers payment for all submissions. Our rates are reasonably competitive, and vary depending on the complexity and depth of the subject you are tackling, along with your position in your career – we pay a little more to post-docs than to graduate students, for example.
We’re a non-profit organization supported by a grant and it’s totally up to you whether to accept or decline payment, but as a matter of principle we think everyone is entitled to be paid for their work.
What should I send?
We strongly recommend that before you start writing, you contact us with a brief pitch outlining what you plan to write, why you are an appropriate person to do so, and any details of how you will go about researching or investigating the topic.
Pieces should generally be limited to under 1000 words, but if you have a great idea for a “long read”, we’d be happy to discuss it with you.
Please provide links in the text where relevant; you don’t need to reference your article like an academic essay, but should provide sources and links to further reading if you can.
If you have a high-quality image suitable for illustrating your article, please send it with the piece. If the image does not belong to you and is not licensed under Creative Commons (or similar), you must show that you have permission to use it.
We’re happy to read any and all submissions, but we reserve the right to edit pieces prior to publication, or not to publish them at all. If major edits are required (i.e. something more than just fixing grammar and expression), we’ll send you comments and suggestions for a revised piece.
